


The View

by grace_lou_freebush



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Broom Ride, F/M, Fluff, Forbidden Love, Hogwarts Seventh Year AU, Love Confessions, No War AU, Secret Relationship, Song fic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29934480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grace_lou_freebush/pseuds/grace_lou_freebush
Summary: Draco takes Hermione on a midnight broom ride.HP Pop Punk Fest 2021 - Day 8, Check Yes Juliet“Then how do you expect me to go on this reckless adventure with you?” Hermione sniffed.The low tones of Draco’s chuckle rumbled through the air and settled in her stomach. She shifted her weight on her feet, waiting on his answer. Instead of speaking, however, he directed his broom alongside the window and inched back on the handle.“Lace up your shoes, and don’t forget your cloak. It’s a bit nippy while I’m flying.”All the blood drained out of her face, and Hermione blanched.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53
Collections: HP Pop Punk Fest 2021





	The View

**Author's Note:**

> How about some fluff after so much angst?
> 
> HP Pop Punk Fest 2021 - Day 8, Check Yes Juliet
> 
> No content warnings on this one, unless you want to warn your dentist you're about to get cavities.

The sound of _tch_ ing against the window broke through Hermione’s shallow slumber.

It was an odd sound to hear dozens of storeys in the sky.

At home Hermione had gotten used to the tree outside her bedroom’s high-pitched scratching on windy nights, but typically at Hogwarts the only invasive sound came from rain pelting the window when storms were strong enough to throw it sideways.

Hermione poked her head out the curtains of her four-poster to see if any of her dorm mates had noticed the noise as well. In the dark with only the light of the crescent moon to illuminate the room, all was still. Movement at the window caused the shadows to shift, catching Hermione’s eye.

Another _tink_ reverberating against the windowpane had Hermione crossing the room to look out the window beside Pavarti’s bed.

Draco Malfoy floated outside on a broomstick, reaching his arm back to toss a rock. As she came into view, he lowered his arm and a bright smile broke across his lips. The moonlight glinted off his hair, turning the pale blonde strands white and silver. His grey eyes shone, and Hermione could see his pyjamas peeking out under his outer school robes.

Hermione about had a heart attack.

Draco was just up so _high_. Rationally she knew he and Harry had flown even higher; as Seekers, they both shot metres straight up into the sky, chasing a little, golden ball. But being up here in the tower, hardly ever being able to look _down_ despite the barrier of the window, and being eye-level with him sent Hermione’s heart racing.

Without stopping to think, Hermione flung open the window, glad in hindsight that the hinges hadn’t squealed in protest, waking her slumbering dorm mates.

“ _What are you doing?_ ” she whisper-shouted at Draco, leaning out the window as far as she dared. She chanced a glance down and shuttered. That was a long drop.

“Lace up your shoes; let’s go.” Draco’s grin widened, a carefreeness Hermione hardly ever saw making his face glow.

“Draco! What time is it even? What do you mean, ‘let’s go?’ It’s way past curfew!”

“And here I was thinking you were a Gryffindor,” Draco drawled, only the hint of his lips curling at the corner of his mouth to soften his haughty attitude. “Where’s your reckless abandon? Your sense of adventure?”

Despite herself, Hermione felt her blood rush hot through her veins. She knew he was provoking her on purpose, but it always worked on her anyway.

“Fine,” she ground out, jutting out her chin defiantly, “I’ll put on my shoes and meet you in the courtyard.”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” he said before Hermione could close the window on him. “You’re not sneaking through the whole school at this hour. You’ll be caught.”

“Then how do you expect me to go on this reckless adventure with you?” Hermione sniffed.

The low tones of Draco’s chuckle rumbled through the air and settled in her stomach. She shifted her weight on her feet, waiting on his answer. Instead of speaking, however, he directed his broom alongside the window and inched back on the handle.

“Lace up your shoes, and don’t forget your cloak. It’s a bit nippy while I’m flying.”

All the blood drained out of her face, and Hermione blanched.

“No way.”

“Come on, Granger, are you saying you’re _scared_? What, you don’t trust me?” He continued teasing her, but for once it didn’t have her rising to the occasion.

“Yes,” she eked out.

At once Draco’s expression softened. He reached through the window with one hand to hold her cheek in his palm. The warmth in his hand brought feeling back to her face, and she leaned into him for a moment. He was always so steady, he never faltered, of course she would be safe with him - even if they were unnaturally high in the air. With only a thin branch of wood between them and splatting on the ground.

Sucking in a shaky breath, Hermione nuzzled into his hand, focusing on her faith in Draco.

“Ok,” she breathed, and before she could second guess herself, she stuffed her feet into the first pair of shoes she found and swirled her cloak around her shoulders. Grabbing her wand, she tucked it into her pocket before spinning around and stepping back to the window.

Taking a deep breath and placing her hand in Draco’s extended palm, she closed her eyes. Allowing Draco to lead her, she stepped up onto the ledge of the window.

“Hermione,” Draco whispered soothingly into her ear, making her curls flutter against the sensitive skin of her neck. “You’re going to have to open your eyes for this next part.”

Stubbornly shaking her head, Hermione kept her eyes firmly closed, gripping Draco’s hand harder.

“It’s okay, love, I’ve got you.”

Inhaling sharply, she gathered her courage and blinked her eyes open. Draco’s face filled her vision, his grey eyes flashing silver in the cold light of the moon. Her eyes darted down of their own accord, gauging the distance to the ground before she could stop herself.

“Hey,” Draco tutted, recapturing her attention. “Look at me; don’t look down there. I’ve got you.”

Hermione nodded mutely, gluing her eyes to his. He hovered steadily, and counting down from three, his strong arm tugged on her so that she had no choice but to follow him out.

“Put your weight on me,” he instructed, guiding her free hand to steady herself on his shoulder. “There you go. Good.” The hand holding hers slid up her body to wrap his arm around her torso, holding her against his firm chest before gently settling her between his thighs.

Hermione breathed through her nose, closing her eyes when the only thing in their field of view was the end of the broom handle and the grass far below.

“I’ve got you,” Draco repeated, and Hermione nodded, curling into his chest. She could feel his chin burrow through her sleep-tousled curls, and his arms wrapped around her to grip the broom between her knees.

Her stomach leapt up to her throat as the broom tilted and a slow breeze wafted over her.

She was pretty sure she’d managed to swallow the tiny squeak until Draco’s low snicker vibrated through her back. A bubble of indignation expanded in her chest until she got to the point where she usually smacked him in the shoulder. The thought of removing even one of her hands to attack the person keeping them from crashing popped that bubble like a needle.

After several minutes of smooth flying, Hermione relaxed in small increments. With her eyes closed, she could almost forget that they were zipping around way up high.

As if reading her mind, Draco bent his head and murmured next to her ear, “You should open your eyes. The view is even better with you by my side.”

Hermione knew his words were specifically chosen to pull at her heartstrings and beseech her into doing what he wanted, but just as always, she found herself slipping into his snare. Her eyes fluttered open, and she gasped.

They flew low over the Black Lake, only a few centimetres lower and her shoes would cut the surface. The crescent moon shimmered on the inky water, reflected a million times on the glassy waves. The Forbidden Forest spanned the far shore, but he kept them away from the trees. As Draco gently curved them around, the castle sprouting out of the hills came into view. Most of the windows were dark, but some candlelight permeated the dark to wink at them like stars brought down to the earth.

They flew slowly, meandering their way along the shoreline. Feeling absolutely no urge to take charge, Hermione let Draco direct their course. He took them into the gorge where the bridge connected the west wing of the castle to the east wing.

“Trust me,” he urged the moment before forcing them into a vertical climb. The breath caught in Hermione’s chest as they ascended the craggy cliffside. Looking up was not nearly as terrifying as looking _down_ , but she felt her heartbeat break into a canter with the knowledge that they were rushing further and further away from a soft landing. Once they reached the support beams under the bridge, Draco levelled them off and hovered.

Perfectly hidden from unwanted eyes, it was like they were the only two in the world.

“You okay?” Draco asked with a normal volume for the first time that night.

They were alone, truly alone, and when they shared a castle with hundreds of other students and faculty, that was remarkable. Exhilaration rushed through Hermione, and she forgot about the distance gaping below them. There were no eyes to catch them, to judge them, to whisper behind their backs and report back to Draco’s parents. Just them and the wind and the lapping waves against the steep cliffs.

A giggle sparked up in Hermione’s throat. It tasted like sugar quills on her tongue.

Carefully, Draco turned Hermione around on the slim handle of the broom. He hooked her knees over his thighs and used one hand to support her back and pull her into his chest while the other held them steady in the air.

“Do you ever feel like Romeo and Juliet?” Hermione asked once she was settled.

The open fighting over Muggleborns had ended over a decade ago, when Harry’s parents had sacrificed themselves to defeat Voldemort, but many of the old families, the so called Sacred twenty-eight, still harboured disdain for those they considered lesser. Draco had thankfully started to take after his Aunt Andromeda and cousin Sirius, Harry’s godfather. But they knew his parents would be less than pleased to find out he was seeing a Muggleborn.

Draco snorted. “Does that mean Harry has to kill Blaise, and I have to kill him? I’m sure we can goad them into a Wizard’s duel.”

Hermione grumbled. “Well, _no_. I didn’t mean literally.”

That quiet chuckle that Hermione loved because Draco always seemed to save it for her, and her alone, sifted through the air.

“I love you,” Draco said. His laughter had died out, and he said it with complete sincerity.

Hermione jerked back in his arms, causing Draco to grunt and the broom to sway - she paid it no mind. Her eyes searched Draco’s grey eyes, the pupils blown wide in the dimness under the shadow of the bridge. But they were clear and honest, if a bit apprehensive.

It was the first time Hermione had heard those words in a capacity that implied more than friendship, and they brought her up short. She knew there were things she loved _about_ Draco: his laugh, his wit, the way he tickled his nose with the end of his quill while he worked on an essay, even his snarky attitude had wormed its way into her heart. But did she _love_ him?

That was a leap she hadn’t conceived until he offered the words to her first.

But she was sitting on a broom, fifty metres in the air, with Draco. She felt nothing but trust and faith and that warmth that only crept into her heart when she was with him.

He waited patiently while she absorbed his confession, his eyes drinking her in as if he could float with her there forever, just the two of them.

“I love you,” Hermione said, feeling the words well up within her, sending her higher than any broom could take her.

The smile that lit up Draco’s face could blot out the sun, surely it blinded her at wand point range in the middle of the night. But her own smile split her face in answer.

Draco leaned down and kissed Hermione. She opened herself to him, feeling the air around them, the freedom of their after curfew tryst. Before they could get carried away and fall to their deaths over a kiss turned too passionate, they slowed, their lips lingering longer and their grips going softer. When they finally parted, Hermione buried her face in Draco’s neck, clinging to him in a hug that transmitted all of her love for him to him.

Draco eventually drifted them back down towards the lake. The moon and stars travelled across the sky as they explored the castle grounds under the cover of night. They talked about friends and school and the next Hogsmeade trip and little nothings that meant everything to them.

When a faint glow crept over the silhouette of the castle, Draco steered them back towards the Gryffindor tower so Hermione could sneak back into bed before her dorm mates awoke to find her missing. She would be exhausted in her classes, but the late night fly had definitely been worth it. As he twisted them about at the proper window so Hermione could easily step off the broom, she took in the view.

Hogwarts gleamed gold in the early morning light, and safe in Draco’s arms, Hermione could appreciate the horizon, if not the vertical perspective. She turned halfway around, reaching to leave a soft kiss on Draco’s lips.

“What are we going to do? Your parents…”

Draco shushed her. “I love you. You love me. Don’t look back, Hermione. Don’t give them the chance to tear us apart. We’re almost finished with NEWTs, and once we leave Hogwarts, we can be together. Forever.”

With one last, lingering kiss, Draco ushered her off his broom and sped around the curve of the tower, out of sight. But Hermione stayed for a moment, gazing out the window and taking in the view, remembering their trip around the grounds and their words under the bridge. A small, secret smile snuck onto her lips where it remained for the rest of the day, despite the exhaustion that crept over her mind and body throughout classes.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're following my daily prompt fics and are worried you missed Day 7, not to worry! It turned into A Fic with PlotTM. You can find a sneak peek on my [Tumblr](https://grace-lou-freebush.tumblr.com/post/645063343359541248/im-not-going-to-make-posting-for-day-7-but-its).
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos make the world go 'round! <3


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